Port Orange Police Seek 1 Suspect In 2 Robberies

PORT ORANGE — Police are looking for a robber who grabbed a fistful of cash at a bank here, then apparently demanded more at a South Daytona bank minutes later.

A robber walked into the Sun Bank branch on Nova Road in Port Orange about 2:30 p.m. and showed a silver, semiautomatic pistol to bank employees, said Port Orange police spokeswoman Terry Shepherd.

''He jumped over the counter and grabbed a handful of money,'' she said.

The robber left the bank and drove off in a white car - which was recovered in a K mart parking lot shortly afterward, Shepherd said. The 1978 Oldsmobile - which was reported stolen from Daytona Beach Aug. 3 - contained the gun and some of the stolen cash, she said, adding that police are not disclosing the amounts taken or recovered.

A witness told police a Hispanic man or woman got out of the Oldsmobile and into a brown or green General Motors mid-size car, Shepherd said.

Within minutes, employees at the American Pioneer Bank branch on Ridgewood Avenue in South Daytona reported that a robber came in and, without showing or threatening to use a weapon, made off with an undisclosed amount of cash, said South Daytona Police Capt. Paul Wert.

''He just demanded money,'' Wert said, adding that no one saw what kind of car the robber escaped in.

Port Orange police said their robber is a Hispanic male, about 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-8, with a muscular build, wearing a blue, green and white flannel shirt, white T-shirt, white pants, white sneakers and possibly a black wig and fake mustache.

Wert said American Pioneer employees said their robber was a Hispanic male wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans, and possibly a wavy, black wig, adding that police believe the same man robbed both banks.